Angry with God - Jonah 4

    There was no quick way to get to Ninevah from where Jonah found himself, spit up from the belly of the giant fish. While many scholars had debated where exactly Jonah had found himself, it would seem that he was probably right back bear where he started in Joppa. If that's accurate, it was then a 500 mile journey to Ninevah. A lot of time to think. A lot of time to ponder what he was going to say. A lot of time to dwell of what God was going to do. 

    And apparently what Jonah expected God to do was what he wanted God to do.

    Jonah thought that God would show the Ninevites mercy. Which seemed to be the exact opposite of what Jonah himself desired.

    Just as there was no quick way to get to Ninevah, so there are no short cuts to obeying God. We either obey God or we don't. We either find ourselves in line with the will of God or we find ourselves going our own way. 

  

     While it looked like Jonah was obeying God, he really put his own heart and his own desires first. Which his reaction to God showing the Ninevites mercy revealed.

    How often have we been there as well? Having a thin appearance of following God, but really we were making it all about us - what we wanted, what we expected, what we thought we would get out of it. Let us, like the Ninevites, repent, and turn our whole sevles, including our deisre and will, back to God.

Jonah 4 Devo

July 28th, 2019

Devotional

“Angry with God” -

      Jonah 4: 1-11

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Displeasing to Jonah” - Jonah 4: 1-5

  Jonah. Poor Jonah. He suffered from a syndrome that many of us can fall into from time to time - thinking that we know what is right. That our way is the best way. Jonah entered into Ninevah with one thing on his mind - their utter destruction. So when God changed his mind, Jonah had an angry reaction to this displeasing news. 

Of course, Jonah seemed also have totally forgotten when he stood in need of God’s mercy. Not too long ago he found himself in the belly of a large fish for his disobedience, and yet, he was angry that God showed that same mercy to others. 

It is almost as if Jonah had totally forgotten the parts of his life as we refer to as Jonah 1:17 - 2:10. What was he supposed to learn from this experience both about God and about himself?

How has the mercy you have received from God influence how you react to other people?

Prayer: God of mercy and grace, we confess that we often desire your forgiveness for ourselves, but sometimes become angry when you show that same forgiveness to others. O Lord, speak to our hearts. Remind us of when we, too, were far from you. Tell us again the story of your redeeming love towards us, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “A Bush” -Jonah 4: 6-8

The God of all will use any means necessary to speak to our hard hearts. For the Ninavites it was the cries of the prophet Jonah. For Jonah himself, it was a storm, being swallowed by a large fish, and now a bush. A bush that Jonah found pleasing at first, but when it was devoured by a worm, he again became displeased. 

God is not beyond disciplining us in many fashions. Discipline isn’t just about correcting using the moment as much as shaping us for the future, but Jonah keeps missing the point. God has went to so many lengths to speak to him, redeem him, and use him, but he is so focused on looking inward and his own perceptions that he is missing the very heart of God. 

How has God disciplined you in love when you needed it? What was that experience like? What did you learn?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that we often miss the point. In our own selfishness we make so much in life about us, when it really about us. Don’t give up on us, O Lord. Strip our selfishness away so that we can see clearly what you are doing in and through us. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Is it Right?” - Jonah 4: 9-11

In a lot of ways, the ending to both this chapter and with it the entire book of Jonah is an unsatisfying one. It ends with God reproving Jonah. Not the Ninevites. The prophet that God sent.

Yet, how often do we stand in need of being reproved, as well?

Sometimes we look around and compare ourselves to other people, especially in terms of sin, and we become blind to the sin in our own lives that is choking our very spirits. 

Jonah needed to hear these words of the Lord so that he, too, had another chance to repent and grow closer to God. 

How do you wish that the book of Jonah would have ended?

Prayer: Lord, we need to be delivered. Delivered from our sin. Delivered from our inability to see and confess that sin at times. Free us, O Lord. Reprove us when necessary so that the chains of sin in our heart may be broken. Amen. 

Thursday: “Veiled” -2 Cor 4: 3-4

  While Jonah did go and proclaim God’s message to the Ninavites after being cast forth from the whale, he seemed to do so reluctantly. In chapter four we find that he had a fear in his heart that God would show mercy. Which is exactly what happened. 

He both could clearly perceive what God was doing and was blind to why God was doing it.

Sometimes we can clearly see the work of God in the world. The work of redemption, love, forgiveness, and mercy. Yet, at the same time we don’t always understand or see clearly. 

  What prevents us from either recognizing or understanding the work of God?

Prayer: Lord, in your Word, the apostle Paul writes that sometimes it seems like the Gospel is veiled. If we are honest with ourselves, it is not just veiled to unbelievers. For we do not always clearly understand either, precious Lord. Help us to see with your eyes and respond with your heart we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “Go” - Matthew 28:19

  Jonah was not thrilled to hear the call of God to “go”, either the first or the second time. We, too, hear the call of God to go. To sometimes go to places we would rather not go. Or to bring a message we would rather not bring. Or to speak with people we would rather disregard. Yet, like the prophet Jonah, we hear the unmistakeable call to go. Not for our own sake, but for the sake of the Kingdom of God,

Where is God calling you to “go” for the sake of the Gospel?

Prayer: Lord, send us we pray. Send us to the places where people need to hear the good news. Send us to the places where we can form relationships with people. Send us to the people you so deeply care about. Send us, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Gospel in Board Games: Life” - Matthew 6: 9-15, 19-21 and Matthew 5: 29-30, 43-48, 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Jonah 4: 1-11

From the Sermon:

Perhaps because of the words of Jonah, or because of the stirrings of God in their own hearts, the Ninevites did the unexpected and they ________.

God didn’t leave Jonah _______.

A question that God had asked Jonah once before and never got an answer from the prophet. “Is it _________________________?”

After God forgave _________, after God rescued ________, he could not except that God would show that same mercy and grace to others.

The truth is there isn’t _____________ with God

Reflection Questions:

How many times we focused our way over the mercy of God?

What causes us to be disappointed/ angry with God like Jonah?

Why do we try to bargain with God?

Prayer:

Lord, over the last few weeks we have examined how our hearts can be like that of the prophet, Jonah. We have seen how we have been disobedient. How we have let our own thoughts and ways block us form you. May we never become so hard hearted that we cannot hear and respond to your call to “go”. Amen. 

Going God's Direction - Jonah 3

     Have you ever been completely humbled or amazed at what God has allowed you to do? One of the things that boggles my mind every time I dwell on it is that God invites us to be part of the work of the Kingdom of Heaven. Us, the broken, disobedient, stiff-necked people. Us, people like Jonah who run the other direction. God still invites us to be part of telling people about the love of Jesus. How absolutely amazing!
   Even when Jonah run away, after he repents, God restores him and gives him another chance to go and do what God wanted him to do. Did it make it easier to go and give the message of God to the Ninevites? Probably not.  But he was still offered that second chance, and this time he responded.
    Here's the thing - Jonah still wasn't thrilled about the call he received from God. But God still used him.
    Where are the places in our lives where we are given new opportunities to respond to the call of God and how are we going to respond?

Jonah 3 Devo

July 21st, 2019

Devotional

“Going God’s Direction” -

      Jonah 3: 1-10

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “A Second Time” - Jonah 3:1-3

  The story of Jonah is epic. Jonah is a prophet of the Lord who had much fame in Israel. He enjoyed the prestige and status of being one called out from the chosen people. Then the Lord disturbed his comfort by commanding him to go and give a message to the people of Nineveh, who had a reputation of being some of the worst people throughout the land. Jonah was so set against giving a message from the Lord, especially one about their destruction, to this particular set of people, and so upset with the Lord from not giving him a task to do that better portrayed his status, that he ran. He ran the opposite direction of where he was commanded to go, and for his disobedience, God put him inside the belly of a whale for three days. When Jonah was spit up the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, commanding him to go to Nineveh and preach against them.

When have you had to be told by God to do something more than once? What was that experience like for you?

Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you do not give up on us. We thank you, Lord, for inviting us again and again to be part of the work of your Kingdom. Lord, use us we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Forty More Days” - Jonah 3:4

To say that Jonah’s attempt at preaching was weak, would be an understatement. While there are definitely times and places for short sermons, Jonah’s one sentence came more from his apathy about the message and the people then anything else. In fact, Jonah didn’t even preach anything the first third of his way across Nineveh. Only on the second leg of his journey did he begin to proclaim, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” One sentence, with no mention of God or why the city would be overthrown, simply repeated over and over again. And yet, a great thing happened. The people of Nineveh began to believe in God and believe in the one-sentence prophecy with such intensity that they began to fast, from the person of least importance in the city the whole way up to the king. Everyone. God saw their act of good faith and was so moved that God changed God’s mind.

Spoiler, what our scripture lesson today leaves out is the fact that Jonah went on to get upset with God all over again for not destroying Nineveh. He craved for the Lord’s wrath to fall upon them. He was angry at God for showing mercy and compassion. By the end of the book of Jonah, there isn’t really any resolution of Jonah’s anger. We are simply left with God trying to teach him a lesson.

When you tell people about God, how would do you share such an important message?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that sometimes we don’t put our best effort into what you call us to do. We don’t always proclaim your way and word in a fashion that connects with people. We confess that sometimes we act this way because we don’t think that others are worthy of hearing your word. Forgive us, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Repent” - Jonah 3: 5-8

Often it is easier for us to live into the urgency of our message when it is about someone else. When we tell someone else to repent. When we point out how God is going to punish another group of people. But what Jonah failed to realize that his message was just as much for himself as anyone else. After he proclaimed his message, he waited around until the day, the day of destruction, waiting to see the event of the people being overthrown. But a funny thing happened. The people weren’t overthrown, but Jonah’s life was. Jonah had to confront God that day and wrestle with the worst parts of himself - the parts that wanted to see the prophecy of destruction become a reality. The part that was full of hatred and not compassion. The part that actually didn’t want to see the Nineveites change. Jonah had the worst part of himself overthrown, and while the story doesn’t have a clear ending, we can hope that ended in Jonah’s repentance.

  Sometimes we are like Jonah. We look down of those that are less then us - those that have less then us materially, those who do not make as much money as us, those who do not speak our language, those who are not at the same place spiritually, the list goes on. We look down from our place of comfort, and condemn then. The sad thing about Jonah, is that he seemed to forget all about the whale, shortly after being spit up. He forgot what it was like to be uncomfortable, without God, and forgotten.

What does it mean to repent? 

What lead to the Nineveites to repent?

Prayer: Lord, your love for us is amazing. You call us not to stay the same, marred in sin, yet you give us opportunities to embrace your mercy and grace. Loosen our lips to proclaim your message, we pray. Amen.

Thursday: “Turn” - Jonah 3: 9

  Even in Jonah’s arrogance and unhappiness, God did a new thing. Jonah despite himself, was successful. Sometimes we dwell too much on numbers, but sometimes we do not honestly look at then enough. Jonah by all measures was successful - he had an entire city come to genuine repentance so the Lord saved them. Yet, that wasn’t what Jonah wanted. We sometimes are like Jonah. We pray time and time again to God to help us grow as a congregation - but grow how. Grow in our love for God? Grow in the number of people we lead to Christ? And what is that growing causes us to be uncomfortable - what if it means that we have to give up some of our desires and replace them with God’s? What if it means that we cannot keep doing things the way we always have? What if it means hard work that we may never see the fruit of in our lifetime? Are we still going to want to be successful, by God’s standards, or will be we all too quickly become angry like Jonah?

  Churches today are filled with Jonah’s. People who proclaim the destruction of others without taking a hard look at themselves. People who are caught up in their prestige and power, while lacking an attitude of compassion and mercy. People who are so worried about preserving themselves that they lack a sense of urgency when it comes to bringing hope to others. People who ignore God’s message the first time and then only accept it the second time on their own terms. People who are surprised and sulk when God saves others and does a new things, instead of people who celebrate with the redeemed.

  How do you share the hope of Jesus with others?

Prayer: Lord, it is the deep desire of our heart that people come to know you as their Lord and Savior. Help us to set ourselves aside for the sake of your mission, we pray. Use us, no matter what the cost. Amen. 

Friday: “Did Not Do It” - Jonah 3:10

  We have enough Jonah’s. Enough nay-sayers who live for themselves and whose messages of prophecy are more about destruction then hope. What we need is a few modern prophets who see potential and hope. A few good people who are willing to step outside of their comfort zones and live lives that are abandoned to the mission of God and who will not be surprised when God does a new thing marked by compassion, mercy and grace. People who will live into the great mandate to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Who will you be? Will you be Jonah, sulking when things change or do not go your way, or will you be one of the new breed of prophets, excited when entire cities turn their hearts to the Lord?

Do you identify with Jonah in this chapter? Why or why not?

Prayer: Lord, break our hard hearts. Break our disobedient spirits. Break our judgmental thoughts. And then blessed and broken, send us anew, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Angry with God” - Jonah 4

Turning Around - Jonah 2

   In order to repent, to turn around, we need to be willing to do a couple different things. First, we need to be willing to confess our sin and ask God to change our heart. But we also must be willing to surrender that which was keeping us from God in the first place.

   Take Jonah for example. Jonah, in the second chapter of the book bearing the same name, has this profound moment of repentance, where we turns back to God, whom he had been running away from, and changes his ways. But he also had to surrender that which had him on the run in the first place - the desire for his own way, his own will, over and above God's.

   Often I think we are pretty good about confessing our sin, but then we stop short of full repentance. We still hold tightly to thte things that kept us from God in the first place, and as a result we return to them again and again and again. We are all for the change of heart, but stop before the change in behavior.

   What do you feel the need to repent of this week? And what does repentace look like for you?

Turning Around Devo - Jonah 2

July 14th, 2019

Devotional

“Turning Around” - Jonah 2 

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Jonah Prayed” - Jonah 2: 1-2

  The prophet Jonah. The prophet who ran away. The prophet who has so much to say about our own lives. Recapping, first chapter in the book of Jonah, where the prophet attempts, unsuccessfully, to run away from God. God caused a great storm to arise when he was at open sea, and after trying every other possible solution, the crew carrying threw him overboard, where Jonah was promptly swallowed by a giant fish.

Chapter two continues from the belly of the great fish, where Jonah is fervently praying to God. He cries out to God as one who was buried in the heart of the sea, and felt that he had no hope, no reason, to return to the land of the living, apart from God’s mercy. There was nothing else Jonah could do, so he turned back to the One he ran away from in the first place. God. Jonah deeply believed that God would show mercy, so he tells God that he is calling out in distress.

  The prayer Jonah prays seems odd at first. Going back and forth between the present and the past. But Jonah’s prayer is actually like a psalm of old. Crying out to the One he wants to be back in relationship with. Crying out in fear, distress, and shame. And throughout the prayer Jonah talks both to God and about God. He reminds God who He is. He reminds God, and reminds himself, that even in this place, the belly of a fish, God could hear him, because God created all and there is no place one can go from God’s presence.

What draws you to pray to God?

Prayer: God, we confess that at times we are distant in communicating with you. We shy away from praying. We, like Jonah, attempt to flee from being in your presence. Forgive us, O Lord. Lead us to pray anew. Amen. 

Tuesday: “How Shall I Look?” - Jonah 2: 3-4

  What a reversal from the man who ran from God, believing that he could out run or out smart or hide from the Divine Creator of the land and the sea. Jonah originally felt that his actions were distancing himself from the unpleasant call he had received to go to a people who didn’t care for him and proclaim an unwelcome message. But now Jonah realized that it his disobedience that has separated him from God, not his cleverness. In fact, Jonah has now been driven from the sight of the One he loves because of his sinful attitude and actions.

How often have we felt the same way? Feeling that if we are cunning enough or persistent enough in our fleeing then God will just move on and give someone else our call, our task, our mission? But really, our very inaction and disobedience create a wall that we never meant to erect between us and the One our soul loves. We tarnish our relationship with God all because we don’t want to do something. Our plan backfires.

How has your disobedience separated you from God?

Prayer: God, help us to be free from the sin that separates us from you. Free us from the bondage that holds us from back from experiencing the gift of life and life abundant. Amen. 

Wednesday: “I Went Down” - Jonah 2: 5-6

Thankfully, Jonah’s prayer doesn’t end there. But it does amp up in its desperation. Jonah tells God that he has no idea how he is going to get out of this. And he doesn’t know what’s worse - the thought that he will die without every seeing his home again, the place that gave him his deepest sense of meaning, the holy temple, or the fact that he doesn’t feel the same connection with God that he once had. He no longer feels close to the Divine.

  Here Jonah has a profound lesson to teach us. Even though he feels that he is beyond hope, even though he cannot sense God’s presence, he still prays. He still claims that God can deliver him. And that is exactly what God does, for after Jonah finishes his prayer he is spit up on the dry land. 

  Some would claim that Jonah’s prayer isn’t really a prayer of repentance because Jonah doesn’t come out right and say that he is sorry. He doesn’t apologize to God. But friends, this is a prayer of repentance. Jonah realized that he was foolish to try to escape God. He realized that God doesn’t have to save him. But he prays to God to have mercy on him and save him anyway. 

Tell of a time you prayed for God to save you. What was that experience like? How did God respond?

Prayer: Almighty God, help us to recognize the blind spots in our own hearts. Those places where we don’t always recognize that we stand in need of being saved. Open us up to your work in our lives, we pray. Amen. 

Thursday: “Remember” - Jonah 2: 7-8

Jonah’s repentance went hand in hand with his reflection. Jonah had a lot of time to think while he was in the belly of the fish. What else was he going to do but replay his disobedience over in his head again and again? The more he dwelt on it, the more he realized that he was wrong. And his reflection helped lead to his repentance. He screwed up. He wondered away. But God is still the God who can deliver - even deliver the sinner. 

There are always two parts of any true repentance. The first is a confession of our rebelling. The second is asking God to change us - change our mind, attitude, actions, whatever it takes - to get us back on the right path. To put us back in right relationship with God. Jonah realizes that he has not only sunk to certain physical depths, but has sunk spiritually as well. But he also knows that this does not need to be the end. 

How does repentance change you?

Prayer: God of Grace and God of Glory, we stand in need of repentance. We stand in need of confessing our sins, those sins we recognize, those sins we are blind too, and yes, even the sins we have tried to contain on our own. But we also need you to change our hearts. To wash us anew. Restore us, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “Deliverance” - Jonah 2: 9-10

  In Jonah’s specific prayer of repentance he also teaches us a thing or two about prayer. When Jonah didn’t know how to pray, when he couldn’t get the words himself, he turned to the scriptures he knew, the psalms, and he prayed the scriptures. They were so a part of who he was that even at his darkest moment, even when he sunk to spiritual depths he thought he would never see, he could pray.

Often I’ve heard people say that when they are the most distant from God they don’t know how or what to pray. They are so ashamed that the words won’t come out and they want to know how to rekindle that relationship with God. The scriptures are a good place to start. The scriptures, especially the Psalms, were meant to be prayed. They were meant to be learned. In our day in age, when we can easily read the words on a page and have an over-abundance of information coming at us from different sources, its hard to find the motivation to memorize scripture, and not just a verse or two here or there, but whole Psalms. Whole passages. Jonah reminds us of our motivation to learn the scriptures in our heart, because even when we are at a loss for our own words, we can turn to the words of our faith to re-teach us how to pray.

Why do you pray?

Prayer: God, deliver us. Redeem us. Then send us out into the world as your people to tell your story. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic to prepare for worship: “Going God’s Direction” - Jonah 3. 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Jonah 2

From the Sermon:

From inside of the belly of the fish, what does Jonah do? ____________.

God will go so far just to get our ___________.

In order to _______ you have to be willing to acknowledge that you missed the mark.

Repentance is not just about changing our _______, but about changing our__________ as well.

Reflection:

What do you feel the need to repent of this week……

Prayer:

Let us pray this week like Jonah:

   “In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to God.
    He answered me.
From the belly of the grave I cried, ‘Help!’
    You heard my cry....
And my prayer got through to you,
    made it all the way to your Holy Temple.
Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds,
    walk away from their only true love.
But I’m worshiping you, God,
    calling out in thanksgiving!
And I’ll do what I promised I’d do!
    Salvation belongs to God!” 

Amen. 

The Eighth Blessing Devo

July 7th, 2019

Devotional

“The Eighth Blessing” - Matthew 5:10

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Persecuted” - Matthew 5:10

  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake”. We have spent the last several weeks together talking about how the Beatitudes, or Blessings, that Jesus spoke about so long ago, challenge is to live in ways that are different from the world around us. This, the last Beatitude of our series, is no different. 

No one wants to persecuted. In fact, for many of us, whether we admit it or not, we strive to be liked by other people. As a result, sometimes we overuse the word persecution to reflect any time someone does not like us. But that isn’t what Jesus is speaking about in this Beatitude. Instead, this is when you are actively harassed or oppressed. But notice the phrasing of this Beatitude, persecuted for righteousness’ sake. 

Other places in scripture, righteousness is not just about what we believe or what we say, but encompasses how we act. How we act differently from the world around us. The Message phrases it this way, “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution”

How do other people notice your commitment to God?

Prayer: God, may you so transform our hearts and lives that others cannot help but notice that you are the center of who we are. May you strengthen our commitment to you day by day, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Kingdom of Heaven” - Matthew 5:10

  Most of the Beatitudes that we have been exploring speak about blessings that are both here and now, but yet not fully present. Matthew 5:10 is no exception. What will happen to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake? Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

I remember both in college and seminary taking courses in Church History and always being struck by the absolute faith and dedication of those who were martyred for what they believe. Some would even be given chances to say that they renounced Jesus or pledge their allegiance to the powers of this world in order to live, and they wouldn’t. As a result they suffered absolutely excruciating deaths. 

There are moments that we all have that define our lives. Most of us will not be martyred. If we are honest, most of us will not be persecuted, in the truest sense of the word. But we all will have decisions to make if we will stand by Jesus, even when the cost is high. Moments when we have a choice another whether we will remain faithful or not. Moments to choose if it is more important to be liked in this world or to reflect the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Tell of a time when you did not think through the consequences of your actions. How did it hurt other people or God?

Prayer: God, we admit that while we have lofty visions that we would stand firm in our faith, no matter what, we often deny you at times when the cost is even low for us. Lord, help our unbelief. May we focus on you and keep the cross in the center of our lives, in all times and places. Amen.

Wednesday: “Faith” -Hebrews 11: 1-40

Hebrews chapter 11 is often known as the Hall of Fame of Faith. But there are a few things that strike me as a read this particular chapter. The first, is the last paragraph, verse 39 and 40, that says this: “Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.” Whenever I meditate on this particular statement I am reminded that we do not keep the faith just so we can get a reward. Yet, how often is that how we talk about what we do for Christ? That we follow him and serve him in order to get something? When we make following Christ about what we receive, it is easy to fall away when we do not get what we want, when we want it. 

Two, just because these folks are considered giants in the faith that does not mean that their life was always easy. In fact, in each example you can see a deep struggle yet, they persevered in the face of so many different things. Faith is often facing the unknown, including struggles, and leaning into God.

Lastly, as much as this list speaks volumes about the stories of the folks who appear on it, it also speaks of the character of God. The God who will not leave us or forsake us. The God who is with us no matter what. The God we can trust in all circumstances.

Which of the stories listed in chapter 11 speak to you the most? Why?

Prayer: God, when we look at those names listed in chapter of 11 of Hebrews we are reminded that life is not always easy. We confess that we have bought into the lie at times that once we have accepted your love and grace in our lives that everything is smooth sailing. Remind us, that while we may still face struggles in life, that you are always with us, we pray. Amen. 

Thursday: “They Covered their Ears” - Acts 7: 54-60

If I had to summarize the book of Acts, which tells the story of the early church, I would say it is a lot of the early disciples getting punished for their utter reliance of Jesus and their continual teaching about him, wherever they would go. Peter, Paul, and Stephen, amongst others, found themselves being drug before religious leads and city councils, accused of many things. But instead of trying to defend themselves or talk their way out of the situation they found themselves in, they would take it as an opportunity to proclaim the name of Jesus.

For that they were beaten, threatened, put in jail, chased out of town, and in the case of Stephen, killed. 

We often feel persecuted when people will not listen to what we have to say about Christ, or when people severe relationships with us, or make fun of us for the faith, but when we look at Acts, we are reminded that all that we bear, both big and small, is for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ, even when people do not listen or respond the way that we wish that they would. 

How do you stand strong in the faith even when there is a great cost?

Prayer: God, when we look through the book of Acts we are reminded that the road for the early Church had many trials and tribulations. May we stand strong, as they did so long ago, when we, too, face trials and tribulations today. Amen. 

Friday: “Obedient” - Phil 2: 1-11

The Christ Hymn, found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, tells that Christ is highly exalted for who he is, but also his obedience, even obedience to the point of giving his very life on the cross.

We, too, are called to be obedient. Even when it is a struggle. Even where there is a cost. Even when it is inconvenient. 

As we have walked together through the Beatitudes, we heard that Jesus spoke to the people on the mountain. For hearers long ago of the Gospel of Matthew, they would have thought about another mountain, Mt. Sinai, where God spoke to Moses as he led them. 

We, too, are searching for God to speak today. But when we hear the voice of God, are we willing to be obedient, no matter what?

What does obedience to Christ look like in your life?

Prayer: God, we cannot be obedient to you by our own will and strength alone. Help us, dear Lord, to lean into your grace and trust in your will and your way, as we follow you through life. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic to prepare for worship: Jonah, Chapter 2. 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Matthew 5:10

From the Sermon:

__________ was described as someone full of faith and the Holy Spirit.

In chapter 7 Stephen goes on to tell the glorious story of Jesus Christ and what happened? The people ________________.

Blessed are those who are _____________ for righteousness’ sake.

Your faith isn’t meant to be ____________.

We have tricked ourselves into believing that faith and our response is supposed to be __________.

Reflection Questions:

Why did the early Church keep proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ through all that they faced?

Do we have the passion of the early church?

What does it mean to choose Christ?

Prayer:

God, we confess that sometimes we want a faith that is comfortable and easy and we get distressed when it is not so. Lord, strengthen us, like you have strengthened your church through the ages, to proclaim your name in all times and in all places. Amen.